


call it what you want

by emmerrr



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Foxes Betting Pool, M/M, Valentine's Day, cute dates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-29 07:09:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17803376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emmerrr/pseuds/emmerrr
Summary: “So they’re just not coming today?” Allison said when Matt filled the girls in at the stadium. “Today, of all days?”“What are you getting at, Allison?” Dan asked.“Oh, I think you know what I’m getting at, and it means I win the pot.”





	call it what you want

**Author's Note:**

> i had a valentine's prompt from pixiexstyx on tumblr that said: for a valentine’s prompt... maybe andreil + ditching practice or showing up late on valentine’s day, and the foxes freaking out about it? and maybe allison wins a bet or something? or anything with andreil, whatever you want to write!
> 
> this is what i came up with <3

Neil was woken up outrageously early (or outrageously late depending on your perspective) by Andrew softly murmuring his name.

His eyes shot open immediately, warm hazel ones gazing back.

“How set were you on going to practice today?”

Neil was ordinarily very set on going to practice, but he was also very set on any time he got to spend with Andrew. There was no game this week. He was in good shape. He could afford to miss a day.

“What else did you have in mind?” he whispered.

Andrew hummed quietly. “Let’s go find a sunrise.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Loud, obnoxious banging on the suite door woke Matt up. 

Actually, it woke up everyone in the suite, but Nicky stuffed a pillow over his head and Aaron snapped, “Matt, go and open the door before I murder whoever’s on the other side.”

It was too early for a homicide. Matt lumbered to his feet and stumbled out of the bedroom towards the door and the incessant knocking.

“Yeah, yeah,” he called blearily. “I’m coming.”

He wrenched the door open and a very irate Kevin pushed past him without so much as a “good morning”.

“Please,” Matt said with a sardonic eye-roll Allison would be proud of, “won’t you come in?” He shut the door.

“Andrew and Neil are gone,” Kevin said without preamble.

“Gone?” Matt said.

Nicky stepped out of the bedroom, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. “What do you mean, they’re gone?”

“I mean gone, as in not here, as in nowhere to be found,” Kevin said. “And we have practice in an hour.”

Matt chewed his lip nervously. “Did they leave a note?”

“Oh yes, of  _course_  they left a note, that’s why I’m knocking on your door at ass’o’clock in the morning,” Kevin said sarcastically.

“Alright, Cranky-Pants, settle down,” Matt said, but concern was building inside; it was a natural reaction wherever Neil was concerned.

“Have you tried calling them?” Nicky asked. Aaron had appeared behind him, hair sticking up every which way, a pillow crease lining his cheek, unbridled fury in his tired eyes.

“Voicemail. Both of them,” Kevin said.

There was a silence, and then Nicky quietly said, “Do you think something’s happened?”

“Like what, they’ve been kidnapped in the night?” Matt exclaimed, gesticulating dramatically.

“How do you guys make the leap to kidnap so goddamn easily,” Aaron said hoarsely.

“It’s  _Neil,”_ Kevin pointed out.

“It’s also Andrew, dipshit,” Aaron said, and then carried on speaking over Kevin’s offended spluttering. “As long as they’re together, I’m sure they’re fine.”

“Yeah but  _still,”_ Nicky said. “They’re  _missing.”_

Aaron sighed. “Has anyone called Coach yet?”

“Shit, no, that’s a point,” Kevin said. “I left my phone next door.”

“I got it,” Matt said, disappearing back into the bedroom briefly to grab his phone. He pulled up Wymack’s number and pressed dial, then turned it on speaker.

 _“You’re up early,”_ Wymack answered gruffly.  _“For the love of God, please don’t have bad news. You kids are turning me grey before my time.”_

“Uhhh, not  _bad_ news necessarily,” Matt said. “It’s just…have you heard from Neil or Andrew this morning?”

_“Yeah, Neil sent me a message, they’re skipping today.”_

Three sighs of relief went up around the room, punctuated by Aaron’s, “I  _told_ you.”

“Did they say where they were going, Coach?”

_“Nope. And I didn’t ask. They’re both doing extra laps tomorrow to make up for it, so don’t any of the rest of you get any ideas.”_

“Yes, Coach,” they all chorused.

 _“Good,”_  he said, and hung up.

“I’m going back to bed,” Aaron said. “I better not hear a peep out of any of you before my alarm goes off.”

Nicky smiled, relieved. “Panic over, I guess,” he said, and followed Aaron back into the bedroom.

Matt walked Kevin out.

“Don’t leave without me, you have to be my ride today,” Kevin said as a parting shot.

“Lucky me.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

“So they’re just not coming today?” Allison said when Matt filled the girls in at the stadium. “Today, of all days?”

“What are you getting at, Allison?” Dan asked.

“Oh, I think you  _know_ what I’m getting at, and it means I win the pot.”

Dan shook her head. “It’s a coincidence.”

Allison sighed. “Ye of little faith.”

“I dunno, Allison, she might have a point. I mean…who’s to say they even  _know_ what day it is?”

“Come  _on,_ give them a little more credit.” She looked around at Renee. “Back me up here, babe?”

Renee smiled serenely. “I’m not getting involved.”

“That means you  _know_ something,” Allison accused.

Renee held her hands up. “I don’t know anything, I promise. But I didn’t even bet on this, so I’m staying out of it. You guys can argue amongst yourselves.”

Knowing a lost cause when she saw one, Allison whirled back around on Matt and Dan. “You seriously don’t think it’s just a  _little_ suspicious that the day they both decide to skip out on practice without prior warning is Valentine’s Day?”

“It’s Neil and Andrew,” Dan said with an offhand shrug. “I don’t think they care about that kind of stuff.”

“I never said they did. Doesn’t mean they’d completely ignore it.”

By now, Kevin, Nicky, and Aaron had joined them on the court, the freshmen still all lagging behind in the changing rooms.

“What are we talking about?” Nicky asked.

Dan fiddled with the netting on her racquet. “Allison is under the impression that Neil and Andrew are on a Valentine’s Day date.”

Aaron pulled a face and stepped away to start doing some stretches out of earshot.

“Oh my God, do you think?” Nicky said, laughing in delight. But then he shook his head. “Nah. Neil would never miss practice for that. And I don’t think I’ve ever even  _heard_  Andrew say the word ‘valentine’.”

Kevin remained pretty quiet about the whole thing, but did seem to agree with Nicky that whatever it was they were doing, it wasn’t a Valentine’s date. Mostly he just seemed annoyed that they weren’t there.

Dan was just as dubious, whilst Matt was on the fence about the whole thing.

“I really  _want_ to believe,” he said to Allison. “I don’t know though. It just doesn’t seem like it would be their thing.”

Wymack came onto the court and clapped his hands. “Enough gossip, I don’t pay you just to stand around.”

“You don’t pay us at all, Coach,” Aaron drawled.

Wymack blinked then conceded with a brusque nod. “Fair enough. Whatever. Dan, lead them through some drills. Let’s go, Foxes.”

Allison picked up her racquet and twirled it flippantly. “I’m telling you, it’s a date.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Right around the time that the Foxes were taking their first water break, Andrew and Neil were miles away, lying out on the bonnet of the Maserati watching the sunrise.

Well, Neil was watching the sunrise. Andrew was watching Neil watch the sunrise, which he knew was a cliché but he couldn't quite help it. The hazy morning light softened Neil’s edges, the pink glow somehow making him seem ethereal and unattainable, like Andrew’s hand would go straight through him if he tried to touch him.

“Neil,” he said, and Neil turned his head, smiling. Andrew lost his train of thought. “Are you cold?” he asked instead.

Neil nodded. “A little.”

Andrew pulled the blanket a little tighter around both of them, then pulled Neil’s hat down further to keep his ears toasty..

Neil laughed a little, his breath warm on Andrew’s cheek, and Andrew was at once put at ease by the feel of Neil under his hands, the breath that told him Neil was alive, the solid comfort of his presence. Not so unattainable after all.

At least not if you were Andrew. And wasn’t that just a miracle in and of itself?

Andrew couldn’t really say that he believed in miracles, but there  _was_  something of the miraculous about Neil.

He blamed the early hour for the poetic turn his thoughts had taken and lightly batted at Neil’s face.

“Staring,” he muttered.

“You were fixing my hat, where was I  _supposed_ to look?” Neil said, exasperatedly fond.

Andrew lifted one shoulder as if to say  _not my problem._ Neil shook his head and looked away, still smiling. He took Andrew’s hand under the blanket, and Andrew let him, and they stayed like that until the sun was up and the sounds of the day waking up became louder and more difficult to ignore.

“That was nice,” Neil said softly. “What now?”

“Breakfast.” Andrew tossed Neil his keys. “You drive.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Andrew basically told Neil to drive until he found somewhere he wanted to eat, and eventually Neil pulled into the parking lot of a small diner.

Inside, they each ordered coffee, and Andrew ordered pancakes while Neil opted for eggs. 

There was a Valentine’s themed tablecloth on the table and Andrew eyed it distastefully. In the windows, too, were love-heart decals, signs depicting 2-for-1 offers on main meals from 3pm onward, a Valentine’s special for couples.

“We should have come later,” Neil said, following Andrew’s gaze to the sign. He smirked at Andrew’s one raised eyebrow.

“What, to cash in on Valentine’s offers?”

“Sure,” Neil said with an easy shrug. “We qualify.”

“Says who?” Andrew said, throwing a sugar packet at him; Neil’s reflexes were too fast and he caught it.

“Says me. And you, when you’re not being difficult.”

“I’m never difficult,” said Andrew stubbornly. Neil shot him a pointed look and leaned forward, elbows perched on the table.

“Take this then,” he said, gesturing between the two of them. “Today. Right now. You getting me up at four o’ clock in the morning to watch the sunrise, skipping practice so we can be alone. Breakfast, and whatever else we do for the rest of the day. What do you  _call_ this?”

What  _did_ Andrew call it? A distraction? A way to kill some time?

“I know what other people might call it,” Neil said carefully.

Andrew tilted his head slightly to the side, temple against the window. “What’s that,” he asked with absolutely no inflection.

“A  _date,”_ Neil said conspiratorially. “And on Valentine’s Day, as well.”

Andrew felt the corner of his mouth twitch, some approximation of a smile. “We’ve done stuff like this before,” he said.

“Not on Valentine’s Day. Not skipping practice. Also, classes. Coach is gonna have to sign notes for us tomorrow to excuse us.”

“It’s a good job he can do that, then.”

 _“Andrew.”_ Neil leaned back and ran a hand through his hair, all mussed from the hat he’d been wearing earlier. It was terribly distracting. “Is this a date then?”

“Call it what you want,” Andrew said impassively. 

Neil stared right back at him. Blue eyes flashed, almost like Andrew had dared him, and he couldn’t back down. “I think I’m gonna call it a date,” Neil said.

“You do that.”

“I will.”

“Fine.”

_“Fine.”_

Andrew found it harder to suppress his smile this time, and it broke Neil’s own composure as he let out an amused huff.

Their breakfasts arrived then and a natural silence befell them as they started to eat. 

Whilst Andrew in no way advocated for Valentine’s Day, he couldn’t really deny that it had everything to do with why he had chosen today to spirit Neil away from campus.

Their teammates, who Andrew knew  _meant_ well (at least on the days he was feeling generous towards them), were nonetheless incredibly intrusive. They were constantly curious about Neil and Andrew’s relationship, presumably because they knew so little about it, other than that it existed in the first place.

Andrew didn’t really get the brunt of the interest, as the others deemed it a waste of time even trying to get anything out of him. Neil was just as unlikely to answer their questions, but it didn’t really seem to stop them from trying with him. Neil humoured them sometimes, but he clearly didn’t like having their attention over something this intensely private.

On Valentine’s Day, Andrew thought they might all be relentless. Better to steer clear. He knew their absence would be conspicuous, but they could deal with it later, or tomorrow. 

He was pretty sure there was a betting pool surrounding the issue of him and Neil and Valentine’s Day, and it could sometimes be entertaining when those closed. Andrew idly wondered who might win.

Allison, probably. It was somehow always Allison.

After they’d eaten, Neil tried to pay but Andrew stopped him, throwing down his own cash onto the check instead before standing up and heading out.

Neil quickly caught up to him, saying, “Wow, it  _is_ a date.”

“Okay,” Andrew said when they reached the Maserati. “If it’s a date, what do you want to do next?”

Neil leaned back against the car, tilting his head as he thought about it. Then he grinned. “I want you to kiss me.”

Andrew rolled his eyes, but seeing as the parking lot was otherwise deserted and that kissing Neil was almost always in the top 5 things he wanted to do at any given moment, he obliged. He made sure it was a good one, leaning in close, a hand on the back of Neil’s neck, just the right amount of tongue. He pulled away when they were both a little breathless, although his composure was markedly better than Neil’s.

“And now?” he said.

“Uhh...” Neil said, looking a little dazed. But then his expression cleared and he pointed back the way they’d come. “I saw an arcade about a mile back that way?”

 

 

* * *

 

 

At the arcade, they played best out of three on the basketball game where you have to see how many baskets you can make in a minute. Neil won the first, Andrew the second, and Neil  _just_ aboutsnatched the win on the last game.

Neil was disappointed at the lack of Exy related games, but Andrew managed to assuage some of the grumpiness by winning him a fox cuddly toy that was in one of those claw machines. (He spent twelve dollars in the attempt, but that was neither here nor there.)

They played several games of pool and Neil lost every. Single. One. They did the rounds of some of the other games, most of them not holding Neil’s attention for too long, although Andrew liked the car ones.

“You know, you have a car like right outside,” Neil said. “Andrew, you  _drove_ us here.”

They played one last game of pool (Neil  _still_ lost) and then they hit the road again. Neil told Andrew to take them to Columbia where they stopped at Sweetie’s, and Neil bought Andrew some ice cream while he ate fries.

On the way out, Neil stole one of the heart-shaped Valentine’s balloons from the entrance-way and then sprinted unsubtly back to the car. Andrew ambled after him and then drove them to the Columbia house, where they made out on the sofa until the sun went down.

Out of all of the February 14th’s Andrew had lived through, it probably went down as his favourite.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Neil offered to drive back, but Andrew ignored him and got into the driver’s seat. Neil powered his phone back on as soon as they hit the freeway, and although he had several messages, the most recent one was the only one he paid attention to.

“Allison says we have to go to the girls’ room when we get back.”

“We don’t  _have_ to,” Andrew pointed out.

Neil shrugged. “May as well see what she wants.”

They stopped to pick up some Chinese food not far from campus, enough to share in case anyone else at the dorm needed feeding. They managed to get a spot close to the entrance of Fox Tower, and Andrew carried the takeout bag up, leaving Neil with his fox toy and stolen balloon.

When they got to their floor, Neil went straight to the girls’ room and knocked. He heard Allison yell, “Come in!” and opened the door.

“Hey,” he said. “What’s up?”

The upperclassmen were all sitting on the floor in a circle, playing some kind of card game. Dan and Matt were dressed fancy, and Neil knew they had Valentine’s reservations for somewhere a little later on. Allison and Renee were dressed down, clearly preferring to spend their night in. They all stared at Neil when he walked in. 

Allison’s gaze switched from Neil to the balloon to the fox and back again, and she grinned, whirling on the rest of them. “Oh, pay  _up,_ dickwads.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Dan said. “Neil, where were you today?”

“Out,” Neil said. He felt Andrew step up behind him and quickly peered over his shoulder, unable to stop the smile as just the sight of him reminded him of the day they’d had.

“On a date?” Matt said.

“Uh huh,” Neil said. “Andrew won me this fox.”

Andrew hooked his chin over Neil’s shoulder. “Neil bought me ice-cream.”

Matt turned to Allison, shrugging. “Yeah, okay, you win.”

“But...” Dan tried, clearly not yet willing to part with her money. “Maybe it wasn’t a Valentine’s date. Maybe it was just a date that  _happened_ to fall on Valentine’s Day.”

“What’s the fucking difference?” Allison said.

“Yeah, I’ve gotta agree with her on this one, Dan,” Neil said.

Renee put her hand on Dan’s arm. “I think it’s time to let it go now,” she said.

“I...oh, alright,” Dan said with a defeated sigh. She scowled and handed some money over to Allison. “One of these days I’ll win one of these stupid bets.”

Allison winked up at Neil and then turned her attention to her new wad of cash, counting the notes. “One of these days you’ll stop betting against me.”

Neil shrugged. “Or maybe one of these days you could leave me and Andrew out of your bets entirely.” He smiled; it perhaps wasn’t a particularly friendly one. “Just a thought.” Andrew stepped away and Neil heard him padding back down the hall to their suite.

There was a brief uncomfortable silence, but then Allison got to her feet. “You know what, you’re right,” she said, and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I’ve made enough money off of you by now anyway. I’d call it even.”

It broke the tension and Neil managed a laugh. “Nah, it’d be even if you gave me a cut of your winnings.”

“You  _do_ get a cut, what do you think I was using to pay for all the clothes I get you?”

Neil figured that was the best offer he’d get. “Fair enough. Enjoy your night, guys.”

He’d gotten halfway back to his room when he heard Allison call, “Nice balloon, Neil!”

“Thank you, Allison.”

“Happy Valentine’s, Neil!”

He shot her a smile over his shoulder. “Thank you, Allison.”

He stepped inside the suite. Kevin was standing in the doorway of the bedroom with his arms crossed and a face of thunder. Neil looked to Andrew who was plating up food in the kitchenette.

“We’re in trouble,” he said in response to Neil’s quizzical look.

“Would it have  _killed_ you two to leave a  _note?”_


End file.
